Chapter 19: Meeting Again

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Myles and Beckett are like, 9 or something in this chapter, ok? 

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I don't know what i'm inviting him for. I don't even know what we're gonna talk about. There's so much i want to say, but my voice is suddenly stuck in my throat.

I had separated from Alex. Artemis had followed me into a spare room. He now stands before me, looking handsome and awkward as ever.

I lift my eyebrow at him, waiting for him to start the conversation.

"Hello, i didn't expect to meet you here" He starts.

"So why are you here?"

"My brothers. My father wants me to bring them here in to introduce them to people in the world who aren't as fortunate as us, or living as great a life."

I nod my head, "Where are they now? You might wanna be careful, this might be a place supposedly for children, but the drug and alcohol business is very much active. Don't let them get their hands on any candy they're given"

Artemis's face twists in detest, "Right, I left Myles downstairs. He should be fine though. Beckett however? i should go get him, i shouldn't have left him." He sounds worried.

I remember my own siblings and feel a tug at my heartstrings, but i suppress it, if i think of them for too long, i just start crying.

"You probably should. Fights and stuff break out around here all the time. How old is he?"

"9 and a half. Him and Myles are twins" 

"Right" 

"Who was that you were talking to?"

"Their name is Alex"

"Are.... they your friend?"

Why does he care?

"No. In places like these, people just kind of float around sometimes, we don't make friend-friends. We make friends that we hang out with from time to time, but honestly don't really care about."

"I see." He hesitates before asking the question that i knew all along was coming, "Why are you here?"

I shrug my shoulders, trying not to show how fond of this place i am, "I like helping the kids here, they need help. Most of them have been kicked out of their homes, or ran away from abusive parenting."

"It's sad how many people are put through situations like that, and it's all kept so quiet."

I only answer with a nod.

"Did you start out here?" He asks, rushing the question like he didn't want to think about my reaction too much.

"No, this place was founded after i started my career"

"How much money to do make, doing what you do? How do you even earn money? Are you for hire?"

"Wow, that last question made me sound like a sex worker, but yes, I would say that i am hired by someone sometimes, who the person is? i will not say, but i can tell you that they're not up to anything negative."

"Does this person pay you?" Now he just seems to be asking all the questions he's wanted to know about me for a while, and i can't say i don't enjoy this new game.

"Sure, they pay me, a lot, the money depends mostly on the job. But anything from 23,000 Euro to 53,817 per mission. Not all missions are killing either. Sometimes, it's just gathering information, or an interrogation, catching opposed to killing, you name it"

"You have quite a wide range of skills" 

"Well, i put in the work"

"That's admirable"

"Thank you"

He looks down, then back up at me, those entrancing eyes sparking at me, i can easily drown in them or hours on end. Im suddenly reminded of my dream, the one where me and Artemis were together. I uncharacteristically find myself wanting that, and i have to resist the urge to jump into his arms.

"Is what you said about shooting Butler true? That you were taking my choice, and making it yours?"

I answer as blatantly as i can. For some reason, i want to convince him that im not some cruel monster, "Yes, I meant what i said."

"And you shot him in the side of the head - not touching the brain - on purpose?"

"Yes, I needed you to believe that he was dead"

He's silently contemplating what i've said, head dipped low in thought. I feel my muscles clench, i care about how he's going to react.

Finally he utters two words, and i feel prominent relief zip through my body like electricity, i let out a lung full of air i wasn't aware i had been keeping in,

"Thank you" He says.

I swallow a lump that had takin form in my throat, and dip my head in acceptance, "Don't mention it"

He asks one more question, 

"Are you.... Doing well?"

The lump climbs it's way back up my throat, and i feel my face burn, i clench my hands. I try to keep my face impassive, but a single tear still makes it's way out of my eye and down my chin, dripping onto the wooden floor.

"I'm fine" I reply.


Artemis's POV

"Are you.... Doing alright?"

I feel her hands clench, her face gives nothing away, slipping back into that weird guise that she wears when she obviously isn't doing well. A single drop of liquid runs down her soft, plump cheek. My heart screams in sympathy for what she's only now revealing bit by bit of the nightmare she's going though, and i find myself yearning to reach out my hand to help her, if only she'd let me in.

"I'm fine" Her voice is, as always, containing as little insight into her feelings as a house cat wishes to swim, but this time, i don't need her face nor her voice to decipher what she's feeling.

I want to offer to listen to her, offer to be her outlet, but i know she wouldn't want that. One thing i've come to learn about her: Others come to her for help, not the other way around.

"Well," I say, "I need to go now, to get Beckett, and Myles. Goodbye"

"Bye. Drop by more if you want, the kids here need someone to talk to"

"I will. By the way, one more question: Are you the sponser for this place?"

She smiles, relaxing a bit, "Yeah, yeah i am"

"I misjudged you. I still don't support the killing, but i know now that you are just doing the best you know."

"Is that an apology, Fowl?"

"Don't ruin the moment."

She laughs, and all the tension evaporates from the air. She has an ugly laugh, and i find that cute.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Morrigan."

When i find Beckett, he greets me with a wide smile, "Arty! Look! One of the girls over there was really nice and gave me a candy!"

Both me and Myles lunge for it before he eats it.

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